Once Upon A Time
by GryffindorGirl11
Summary: Have you ever wondered how the Maraudars become the Maraudars? How did they become Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs? How did Peter become a traitor? How did Lily Evans fall in love with James Potter? Follow all of them through their time at Hogwarts find out.
1. Chapter 1

"You had better behave yourself now. If I hear you've been sorted into any house but Slytherin you are going to be in big trouble. Don't disgrace our family, Sirius. Don't make friends with the wrong sort. Ask Bella to introduce you to the right people. And believe me I will know if you don't." The boy called Sirius tried to wriggle out of his mum's grasp but her grip only tightened and her eyes narrowed as she said, " Sirius, don't you think you've disgraced our family enough, I mean, look at what you did at the last family gathering we had!" Sirius's mouth twitched upward and his eyes lit up with amusement as he remembered.

_ He moved swiftly through the crowd to where his mum and aunt sat talking._

"_She is such a disgrace! How dare she go off with some filthy Mudblood and shame the Black family! I would disown her if I were you." His mum just finished her sentence when she saw Sirius bending down by her feet._

_ "Sirius, what are you doing down there? Stand up like a proper boy!" Sirius smirked as he stood up and with his foot moved his mother's purse back into position. _

_He put on his pureblood drawl and said, "Sorry mum, I had to tie my shoe." _

_She looked at him sternly as said, "Go away now, me and your aunt need to finish our discussion about your traitor of a cousin, Andromeda."_

_Sirius looked up as she mentioned his cousin. He always had a very high opinion of Andromeda because she like he didn't like the pureblood ways of their family. "What about her?" he asked._

"_She ran off with some stupid muggle, Tonks," she spat out his name like by just saying it she was infecting herself. "Anyway, Sirius go play Regulus or something I have to find this thing for your aunt," and as she said it she lifted her purse off the floor and reached into it. Sirius scampered away as a big greenish cloud engulfed his mother. Even from across the room he could hear her scream of "Sirius!"_

His mother finally relaxed her grip on his arm and he took that chance to scamper away from her. He hopped on the train and got in the first empty compartment he could find.

James Potter hugged his mother and father goodbye on Platform 9 ¾. He was finally going to Hogwarts! He could hardly wait! His mother gave him one last hug and when she pulled away she had tears in her eyes.

"Mum, don't cry. I'll be back at Christmas and anyway now you can have the house to yourself, with Dad of course. I mean, in the grand scheme of things 4 months isn't that long of a time. Think of all the pranks and stuff I can pull in 4 mon- I mean all the studying I can do in 4 months. What was I thinking? Pranks! Hahaha….. He put an innocent smile on his face and told his mom that she's the best mom in the world. Then he ran off and found the first compartment he could to sit in. It was occupied by a black-haired boy who looked to be his age. He introduced himself as James Potter. The black-haired boy replied and said that he was Sirius Black.

"Bye Peter, be safe and study! Write to us as soon as possible okay. Wait you forgot your trunk!" Peter Pettigrew turned around, embarrassed.

"Mummy, please, don't shout. We don't need everyone to hear." He grabbed his trunk and started walking slowly and hesitantly toward the mass of students crowding around the train.

His voice squeaked out, "Excuse me," every now and then and finally he got on the train. He breathed a sigh of relief and started looking for an empty compartment. There was absolutely no way he was going to get in an occupied compartment. People would laugh at him because of his size and his squeaky, high-pitched voice. He was on his second round through the train when he finally gave up and settled for a compartment that had only two boys in them. They both had black hair although one of them wore glasses.

"Hi, ca-can I sit with you guys?" he immediately scolded himself for stammering and to try to make up for it he smiled feebly. He soon found out that the boy with glasses was James Potter and the other one was Sirius Black. They both smiled at him and welcomed him and he felt a little less awkward.

Remus's stomach was doing little jumps as he finally turned away from his mum and dad to board the Hogwarts Express. Remus got on and started looking for a compartment. Remus had been looking into compartment after compartment to see if there was any room for him but everybody just looked at him coldly. 'Do they all know about my condition' he thought. He shook his head and told himself to stop being stupid. 'They can't know about my condition because only one person knows and he's not even on the train. Wait, do you think he told them? No, no, no, of course he didn't tell them, he said he wouldn't tell anybody.' He told himself that they didn't know him and they were just being mean. He pursued on and finally found a couple of boys in a compartment who looked about his age and didn't stare rudely at him. He walked in and introduced himself as Remus Lupin. The boy with glasses introduced himself as James Potter and the other black-haired boy introduced himself as Sirius Black. The short and slightly chubby boy said that his name was Peter Pettigrew.

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were sitting comfortably in their compartments on the Hogwarts Express that was steaming off toward Hogwarts. The train ride had started a couple of hours ago and the conversation had immediately turned to Quidditch. They talked about their favorite teams and the stats for this season and the best players and everything they could about Quidditch. After a while even that conversation had gotten boring so Remus took his Exploding Snap game out of his trunk and they played vigorously for a couple hours. Now, they were all just staring out the window with nothing to do.

It was James who broke the silence by saying, "What house do you think you'll be in, Sirius?" It was the exact question that Sirius had been trying to avoid.

He hesitated a little as he said glumly, "Probably Slytherin, just like the rest of my pureblood family." James didn't bother hiding his shock and disgust at Sirius's answer. After all, anybody in Slytherin was bound to turn out bad. Almost all the Death Eaters had turned out from Slytherin.

"What? Slytherin and you don't really seem to go together." Remus and Peter nodded in agreement when James said this.

"Yeah, well why does that matter? My whole family is Slytherin and why should I be any different?" He said in a sulky voice.

"It matters because even though you're whole family is bad, doesn't mean that you have to be too. Look, if you don't want to be Slytherin and you don't agree with your pureblood family then nobody's asking you to." Remus said wisely.

"I guess, it's just that what my family believes doesn't seem right. I mean are blood traitors really all that bad? Are muggles and mudbloods actually that filthy and stupid? I don't really think so because my Uncle Alphard said that my family is just crazy and they're all off their rockers. He said to go with what is in my heart and not what other people stuff into my brain. I believe him, I really do it's just that, will the sorting hat see it?" James's expression softened considerably when he heard that his new friend wasn't like his lunatic family.

"Of course the sorting hat will see that, mate. The sorting hat can see everything in your head and he won't sort you based off your family. I know what house I'm going to be in. I'm going to be in Gryffindor. My dad said I have all the qualities a person needs to be in Gryffindor." James admitted proudly.

Remus wasn't too sure what house he was going to be in but he thinks he has it narrowed down to two, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. "I don't know, my dad was in Ravenclaw but my Granddad was in Gryffindor. I think I have a pretty good chance of getting in to one of those two."

"What about your mum?" Peter asked.

"Oh, she's a muggle," Remus said simply and then he added, "What about you Peter?"

Peter desperately wanted to be in Gryffindor but he thought he had little chance of it. "I don- I don't know." He stammered. He thought he was going to be in Hufflepuff but he didn't want to admit that to his companions in their compartment. The train ride went on and pretty soon they got their first sight of Hogwarts. They all stared up in awe at the amazing view.

The night air was cold and frosty and the four boys hopped off the train and onto the platform. They rapped their cloaks tightly around themselves and hurried towards where a giant man was hollering, "FIRST YEARS, FIRST YEARS, OVER HERE, FIRST YEARS!" As the group made their way over to the boats it started raining. James had to repeatedly wipe his glasses off from the rain. The shivering boys climbed into a boat and they started off across the lake.

It was a relief to find themselves in the warm entrance chamber where a strict looking woman told them all about Hogwarts. She opened the doors to the Great Hall where every eye was upon the small, soaked group of first years huddled together and shivering. As they made their way through the Hall another teacher brought out a stool and an old hat to the front. McGonagall told them to stop a couple feet in front of it.

"Black, Sirius" Sirius gulped and walked up to the stool. He put on the hat and the last thing he saw were the encouraging eyes of James Potter.

'Ah, young Mr. Black,' the voice of the hat echoed in Sirius's head. He desperately thought, 'Please not Slytherin. I want to go to Gryffindor, with James.'

James looked down at his watch and saw that it had been almost two minutes since Sirius crammed the hat onto his head. He so wanted Sirius to go to Gryffindor. Sirius didn't belong in Slytherin. He belonged in Gryffindor with him.

Finally, after almost three minutes the hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" James grinned broadly as Sirius hopped off the stool and down to the Gryffindor table. Unlike the usual applause that the first years' receive after their sorting, it was a stunned silence. A Black, in Gryffindor? It didn't make any sense. Sirius just grinned and plopped down on the bench.

When McGonagall reached a girl named Lily Evans, James's jaw dropped as he stared. She was so pretty. Her long red hair flowed down her back and swayed as she walked toward the school nervously. When she turned around to face the house tables, James saw her stunningly green eyes. He knew that he was in love. When the hat shouted out Gryffindor he grinned as broadly as he did during Sirius's sorting.

When Marlene McKinnon's was sorted into Gryffindor it was Remus's turn to go. He sat on the stool and the hat pondered. It wasn't the hardest of decisions but it still needed careful thinking. He thought that Remus's bravery beat his brains he yelled out Gryffindor. Remus was relieved that he was with Sirius. He went and sat next to him to watch the rest of the sorting.

"Pettigrew, Peter", McGonagall called out. Peter scampered up to the stool nervously and put on the hat.

"Well, well, well, Peter Pettigrew. Hmm. This is a hard one. Definitely not Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff would suit you well but it seems that you want the chance to prove yourself rather badly. Hufflepuff won't give you that chance so it seems that it will be GRYFFINDOR!" the hat cried out. Peter was grinning madly and he was so happy that in his haste to get to his table he tripped over a leg of the stool and went sprawling across the floor. Some people laughed and others hid their giggles inside of their hands. Peter got up, red in the face and when he turned to put the hat back on the stool he caught the eye of Albus Dumbledore. It was twinkling in amusement as he winked at Peter and gave him a reassuring smile. Peter returned to his table still a little red in the face but encouraged by Dumbledore.

"Potter, James" James scrambled up to the stool eagerly and jammed the hat onto his head. He had barley sat down, however, when the hat called out Gryffindor. He smiled triumphantly and walked cockily to the Gryffindor table.

After the last few people were sorted Dumbledore stood up and said, "Welcome students! Before we dig into our delicious feast I have a few start of term announcements. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students. Also, there has been a new tree planted on the grounds of Hogwarts. It is the Whomping Willow. As its name suggests, it 'whomps' anyone who comes near it so if you do not want to end up in the Hospital Wing steer clear of it. That is all, let's now eat!" No one noticed Remus's blush when Dumbledore announced the Whomping Willow.

Every type of food imaginable filled up all the silver platters and the newly sorted first years gasped in astonishment. The rest just started filling up their plates with everything within reach. For the next couple of minutes the Hall was filled with sound of hundreds of people eating. Talking then started and Peter, James, Sirius, and Remus struck up a conversation of the sorting.

"I was so scared that the hat was going to put me in Slytherin. I almost died!," exclaimed Sirius.

"That was nothing compared to me! He was about to sort me into Hufflepuff! ," It was a wonder how Peter could even speak because his mouth was stuffed with food and he was continuously stuffing more in.

"Did you see James? The hat didn't even touch his head! And did you see after he got sorted? How he strutted off to the table, all High and Mighty! Ha! He looked hilarious!

"Hey, you don't have to make fun of me. At least I didn't have a ten minute conversation with that old hat!"

They continued on like this until Dumbledore told them it was time to go to bed. They happily obliged for it had been a long day and they were very tired. As they climbed into bed that night each boy was lost in his own thoughts and they all fell asleep within ten minutes. James dreaming about Lily's green eyes and red hair, Sirius thinking how he would get a kick out of mum's reaction to his sorting, Peter dreaming about the food, and Remus thinking how maybe, if he could keep his problem a secret, he might just have friends after all.

**A/N: This is my first fanfiction so please review! I would love to hear your thoughts. I think I'm going to make the story go through all the Marauders' seven years at Hogwarts.**


	2. Chapter 2

Breakfast the next morning proved to be very interesting. For starters, the owls arrived. Each boy got a letter from home but Peter's owl was very clumsy. It landed in the pumpkin juice then hopped around the table making a mess of everyone's food before Peter could catch him. When Peter finally got his letter the owl had a hard time flying because there was pumpkin juice all over his face, so when he took off he promptly ran into the wall. Peter was blushing furiously as the whole school turned to watch his owl try to stop running into the wall. After a while his owl finally made it outside but with much laughing and pointing. Even Remus had to hide a laugh. Peter was still red in the face as he read his letter.

_Dear Peter,_

_Congratulations on making Gryffindor! We are so proud of you and we know you will continue to succeed. I hope the owl didn't cause too much ruckus, you know how she is. Your little sister says that she is missing you. We had to go to St. Mungo's yesterday because her dragon pox came back. She was crying for you the whole time. She's going to have to stay at the hospital for a little while. The Healers say this is an extreme case. We are praying every day that she will get better but she would really appreciate a letter from you too. Write to us about your first week and I hope you made some friends._

_ Love,_

_Mum, Dad, and Allie_

Peter frowned when he heard of his sister's dragon pox. She had been having it on and off for about a year now and they didn't know what to do. He really hoped she got better. She was supposed to start Hogwarts next year and if she still has dragon pox she wouldn't be able to come.

"Peter, what's the matter?" Sirius asked.

"What? Oh, nothing, just my little sister had to go to St. Mungo's because of her dragon pox." Peter quickly explained what had been happening to her and that she might not be able to come to Hogwarts next year. Remus was about to say something when a jet black owl landed in front of Sirius. It was carrying a red envelope in its beak.

"Uh oh, mate, that looks like a Howler. Why would you get a Howler?" James said.

"Well we're about to find out aren't we?" Sirius said grimly. He opened up the envelope and it immediately started shrieking in his mum's voice.

"SIRIUS BLACK, HOW DARE YOU DISGRACE OUR FAMILY! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU GOT PUT IN STUPID GRYFFINDOR! YOUR COUSIN TOLD ME ALL ABOUT IT AND NOW YOU'VE WENT AND MADE FRIENDS WITH BLOOD TRAITERS! I AM WRITING A LETTER TO THE HEADMASTER TO PUT YOU INTO SLYTHERIN WHERE YOU BELONG!"

Sirius looked pale as the envelope ripped itself to pieces. James gave him a pat on the back and said, "Don't worry mate, she can't put you in Slytherin." Sirius gulped and tried to compose himself.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. What's she thinking? She can't put me in Slytherin! Ha!" he said more to reassure him than anyone else.

Then they noticed that every eye was upon them. Sirius looked around at all of them daring them to laugh. Nobody said anything and pretty soon they were all eating again.

"Wow, that was your mother?" Peter asked in shock.

"Yeah, charming isn't she?" Sirius said sarcastically. Peter was wondering how any mother could be so mean and insulting. He was so lucky that his mother was actually proud of him to be put in Gryffindor and not ashamed.

As they were just finishing up their breakfast Professor McGonagall handed out their schedules. They all had the exact same schedules because they were all first years and they were in the same house. They didn't know the way to the classroom so they wondered around for a while then finally had to end up asking an older boy who had a free period. When they finally got into the Transfiguration room they were ten minutes late.

"Sorry we're late Professor, we got lost on the way." McGonagall looked at them sternly and said, "Well, take any seat; we're discussing the laws of Transfiguration." Sirius already looked bored as he took an empty seat at the back. The seat right next to him was empty and he immediately looked around for James but James had already found a seat next to Lily Evans. Sirius rolled his eyes motioned for Remus to come sit. That left Peter with the seat next to a greasy-looking, black-haired boy. He sat down and glanced over at Sirius and Remus. Remus was paying attention to the teacher but Sirius dozing off in his chair.

"Mr. Black, can you tell us the spell to turn a match into a needle." Sirius snapped out of his doze with a sudden jerk and looked around the room.

"What?"

McGonagall was not impressed. "You have obviously been paying very close attention to this lesson as your book is turned to page 11 and you know exactly what I am talking about," she said sarcastically.

Sirius looked down at his book. He had not even opened it and he had no idea what they were talking about. "Umm," he said stupidly.

"If I catch you sleeping in my class again Black you will have to stand the rest of the year. Mr. Snape, can you tell us the correct answer?" The boy next to Peter said the correct answer in a rather smug voice. Sirius was glaring at the back of his head the rest of the period.

As the days went on the days got more boring and more boring. It seemed like all they did was eat, sleep, go to class, and do homework. One day when they were working on a particular nasty essay for Slughorn, the Potions professor, Sirius said, "We need to do something."

"About what?" Remus asked.

"About the constant boringness of this school. We need to pull a prank. On the Slytherins. One in particular."

"Ummm, I don't really like where this is going." Remus said unsure.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun. We can put itching powder in their beds or make the Slytherin common room red or something."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Peter asked.

"Duh, we get the house elves to do it."

"I didn't know there were house elves here." Remus said.

"Well they don't come out during the day and you're not supposed to see them. They make our food and clean the commons rooms." James put in.

"Exactly, we'll get them to make the Slytherin common room red. We can do to all the houses! Boy, wouldn't that be a shock to wake up and find that your common room changed color!"

"But then everyone would know that it was a Gryffindor who did it." Remus seemed like the only one who thought this was a problem.

"Who cares? Anyway, there are about a hundred Gryffindors. Nobody would guess that _we _did it. "Sirius exclaimed.

The next morning found three hundred students swarming the teachers' table in the Great Hall.

"Our common room is red!"

"My dorm changed color!"

"Stupid Gryffindors!"

Those were only a couple of the shouts that were heard in the Great Hall. The Gryffindors were just looking around at everyone having no clue what was going on. The rumor was that all the colors in the other houses turned into the Gryffindors' red and gold.

"Ha! I wonder who did it! I need to go congratulate them!" one boy said a little ways down from where Sirius, Peter, Remus, and James were sitting. They all grinned mischievously at each other.

"EVERYBODY BACK TO YOUR SEATS NOW! THIS WILL ALL BE EXPLAINED IF YOU CAN SIT DOWN!" came Dumbledore's booming voice above the racket that the students were making. They all shuffled back to their seats muttering under their breaths.

"It seems as if there has been a slight mishap in the common rooms of everybody but Gryffindor," his eyes wandered over to where the Gryffindor tables sat, "we don't know who did it yet, but rest assured that they will be caught. Now, the heads of house will go and fix the common rooms and the rest of you will go to class."

That day each Gryffindor was summoned to McGonagall's office separately for a meeting. So during Potions Remus was told that Professor McGonagall wanted to see him. Remus was nervous. What if they got caught? Do you think they would get expelled? He told himself that there was no way that they were going to get caught. I mean nobody would suspect a bunch of first years. Sirius had told them to play dumb so that is exactly what Remus did.

"Mr. Lupin, do you know anything about what happened this morning? Say, perhaps, who bewitched the colors in the other common rooms to be red?"

"No."

"Where were you last night?"

"In the common room."

"What were you doing?"

"Playing a game of chess with James, homework, helping Peter with his homework, playing Gobs-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. You may go." McGonagall sighed exasperated as she checked off Remus Lupin's name on her list. She thought it was a waste of time questioning first years. I mean even if they did know the spell to do this, how would they have gotten into the common rooms in the first place?

When James was called he gave the exact same answers as Remus and when Sirius was called he told her that he was sleeping. At that McGonagall gave a questioning look and he said, "I didn't get enough sleep last night."

When Peter was called James, Sirius, and Remus exchanged worried looks. If they were to get caught it would be because of Peter. They all knew that he wasn't the smartest when coming up with lies and that he stammered a lot and he might slip but they had reviewed what to say and what to not say so they weren't _too _worried.

"Where were you last night?" McGonagall asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Peter stammered out, "The co-co-common room." McGonagall was used to his stammering so she dismissed it lightly.

"What were you doing?"

This is where Peter slipped up, "Umm, I- in the- talking!"

"Well yes, obviously you talked in the common room but what else did you do? Did you play games, did you read, did you draw?" McGonagall purposely didn't add homework because she knew from James and Remus that he did get help to do homework.

"Yes, I remember now, what was it I was supposed to have done?" Peter was muttering to himself trying to figure out the answers that they had reviewed earlier. When he came up with nothing he said, "Umm, I drew?"

McGonagall narrowed her eyes and said, "Lupin and Potter seem to have remembered helping you with homework."

"Oh, crap!" That was what he was supposed to have said! He feebly tried to make up for it by saying, "that too?" McGonagall was not fooled. She quickly wrote something on a sheet of paper, tapped it with her wand, and it zoomed off out the door.

Five minutes later in walked Remus, Sirius, and James. McGonagall told them to take a seat.

"Mr. Potter, can you please tell me again what you did in the Gryffindor Common Room last night."

James told her that he helped Peter with his homework, played some chess with Remus, did his own homework, and played Gobstones.

"Well, unfortunately Pettigrew doesn't remember being helped with homework nor does he remember what he actually did. Mr. Pettigrew can you explain to me why that is?"

"Umm," he said his mind working furiously to come up with and excuse. After a few moments he shook his head.

"What about you Black? Why can't Peter recall what he did last night?"

Sirius had many answers in his head so he chose the one that was the least far-fetched. "He was abducted by aliens who zapped his memory?"

"No, I don't think so Mr. Black. I think that the reason that Pettigrew can't say what he did last night is because the four of you somehow got the passwords and figured out the answer to the other three common rooms. Then you snuck off in the middle of the night and jinxed the colors. Am I correct?"

"No," chorused the four boys.

"Fine, maybe you didn't do exactly that but am I correct in saying that you were responsible for the chaos this morning?"

"It depends on which chaos you're speaking of," James retorted.

"I think you know exactly what chaos I'm talking about but let me enlighten you. The one where ¾ of the school was complaining about red and gold common rooms. You were responsible for that one right?"

The boys didn't say anything so McGonagall told them that she was deducting 20 points from Gryffindor house and was giving them a weeks' worth of detention. The boys nodded and she sent them back to class.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning each boy got a slip of parchment telling them the details of their detention. James and Sirius put it off as nothing and promptly threw the parchment away only glancing at them. Peter gulped when he read that they would be going to the Forbidden Forest. He folded the slip and tucked it away in his bag. As Remus read his slip of parchment he noticed that the date said September 15th. He blushed a little as he noticed that it was the day after the full moon. They must have purposefully done that for him.

"Remus, aren't you going to eat? Stop staring at the parchment. I mean it really only one detention. We'll probably get a whole bunch more and then one will seem tiny next to hundreds."

"You might be planning on spending your whole seven years at Hogwarts in detention but I certainly am not," Remus snapped. He was in a bad mood because of the full moon. He hated what he became once a month. He knew he was being mean to Sirius but luckily Sirius wasn't bothered by it.

"Ouch, Remus, that hurt," Sirius joked. Remus cracked a smile and stood up.

"Well, I'm heading off to DADA. You coming?"

"Yep, let's go, Peter," James said as he and Sirius stood up. They looked at him and saw that he was still brooding over the fact that they had to go the Forest for detention.

"Peter, don't be scared. We'll have a teacher with us and they wouldn't send us in there unless they thought it was perfectly safe," Remus said, seeming to read his thoughts.

"Yeah, but it's the _Forbidden_ Forest. It's named that for a reason you know," Peter mumbled as he too got up and slung his bag over his shoulder. As they headed off for DADA they talked about the new teacher.

"My family doesn't like him. Well they wouldn't seeing that he's an Auror. You know, he's caught a couple of people in my family. Nobody I know directly but like distant relatives. They're always threatening to go to his house and give him a piece of his own medicine. They never do of course, they're all scared that he'll hex them into next week. The whole lot is cowards." Sirius said rather sullenly. The other three noticed that he always got like that when he talks of his family.

"Who cares what you're family thinks, Sirius? You're not them and they can't make you be," Remus said trying to cheer him up. He was still trying to make up for the way he acted in the Great Hall.

"Yeah, well, they can definitely try, can't they?" Sirius snapped. He didn't know why he always brought his family up. He hated them. He didn't even want to think of them. He knew he was being mean and unfair but he always was like that with his family. There was an awkward silence that was only broken once they got to DADA.

They walked in, took their seats and waited for the teacher. After a couple of minutes of him not showing up people started whispering and pretty soon people were shouting. Everybody was goofing off so they didn't notice a tall limping figure walk in the room from a door behind the desk. They only looked up when they heard the scratching sound of chalk on the board.

And there right in front of them was the Auror, Alastor Moody. His back was turned towards them and he was righting something rather vigorously on the chalkboard. When he stepped away it said constant vigilance.

"Can any of you tell me why it's important to have constant vigilance? came a rough, gravelly voice. Nobody raised his or her hand because they were still stunned by his face. It looked like it had been carved out of wood. It had so many scars on it a piece of his nose was missing.

"Nobody, eh, well how 'bout you! Black! Tell me why it's important to have constant vigilance."

"Um, because you always need to be alert of your surroundings and be aware of what's going on around you?"

"Because…"

"Because if you're not someone could attack you?"

"Right! Not everyone is as nice as they seem. Don't trust anybody. If you need to get a job done do it yourself. Also, somebody could attack you as Mr. Black pointed out. If you are aware of the people around you then you find yourself in a better position to defend yourself!" he was practically shouting now.

"Constant vigilance!" This same lecture went on till the end of class and the four boys were pretty disappointed. As they walked out of the classroom they complained how it wasn't that interesting.

"I thought he was going to teach us wicked spells and stuff. I didn't know he was going to lecture us on constant vigilance!" Sirius whined.

"Yeah, that was kind of a letdown," Remus agreed.

"Oh well, he probably just wanted to warm us up then he'll teach us spells!" James said to try to cheer everyone up.

"Yeah, you know what you're right, James. I mean it was only the first lesson," Peter said uncertainly. The boys were right. The class did get more interesting as the days went on the best part about it was that Professor Moody didn't give them homework! He said that homework only dampers kids' spirits and that they got enough already from the other teachers. So far DADA was their favorite class.

Pretty soon it was the full moon and Remus had to go to the hospital wing straight away after classes. James, Sirius, and Peter had insisted on taking him even though he said that he could go by himself. They insisted more and finally Remus relented.

"Feel better by tomorrow Remus, or you might miss our detention!" James called as Remus headed off to the hospital wing. Remus smiled over his shoulder and said that he would do his best.

That night when Remus didn't come back from the nurse the three boys decided to go and visit him. As they were walking down the corridor they were stopped by McGonagall who asked them what they were doing.

"We're going to visit Remus in the hospital wing. He went there earlier because he wasn't feeling well."

"What! No, sorry boys but you shouldn't visit him right now," she said panicking.

"Why not? It's not past curfew and he's our friend. We want to visit him." Sirius argued.

"But- but you see he- he's not available." McGonagall stammered.

"What do you mean he's not available? Of course he's available he's only in the hospital wing right. Wait! Oh no! Did he have to get transferred to St. Mungo's? Did some poisonous plant bite him? Is he going to turn into some mutant alien? Oh, Professor, it's not true is it! Tell me it's not true!" Leave it to James to come up with the worst conclusion.

"No Potter, your friend is quite alright. He's actually sleeping and that's why you can't see him." McGonagall said coolly. She had finally gained back her crisp tone and stern look. She almost lost it too when James was panicking over nothing. It was funny but many years at Hogwarts told her to never lose that stern look or the students might get the wrong idea.

"Oh, thank god too. I was so scared for a second! I thought he had to go to St. Mu- wait. You said that Remus was sleeping? It's like 6:30 in the evening! What kind of person sleeps at 6:30?" James exclaimed.

"Obviously Mr. Lupin. He wasn't feeling at all good this afternoon and Madam Pomfrey gave him a sleeping draught. Now I suggest you go back to your common room and let Lupin get a good night's rest."

As the three made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, they talked about McGonagall's reaction.

"I wonder why she started stammering. I mean, it felt as if there was something that we didn't need to know. I've never heard Professor McGonagall stammer before. I wonder what made her do it." James inquired.

"Yeah, I mean a sleeping Remus isn't something to panic over," Sirius agreed. Peter just nodded every now and then and didn't really say much.

"Do you think that there is something about Remus that we don't know?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well like maybe he's like a- no never mind, I'm being stupid," James shook his head. Sirius just shrugged and Peter as usual did nothing.

The next day Remus wasn't at breakfast nor was he at Transfiguration. The other boys were getting worried about him. Finally, at the end of Potions he came walking through the door. He looked bad. It looked like he lost a little weight and he was limping slightly as he came over to their table.

"Hi guys," Remus said as he sat down in his seat.

"Remus, what happened to you? It looks like you've been sick for years not 1 day!" Peter said worriedly.

"I'm fine really. I was just feeling really sick yesterday," Remus lied as he smiled slightly trying to reassure his friends. The truth was that it was a really bad full moon. It was one of the worst he ever had. He had ripped up his leg pretty bad and he hadn't eaten since yesterday's lunch unless you count all the potions that the nurse had given him.

"Well at least now you get to do detention with us. If you had still been sick she would have rescheduled it for you, then you would have to do all by yourself. That would have been no fun at all," James said eagerly.

"Yeah, but it's still detention. I doubt it's going to be fun anyway," Remus said grimly.

"Yeah but don't you agree that it would be even worse without us there?" Sirius said.

"Yeah, anyway, what are we supposed to be doing?" Remus said trying to change the subject.

"For what? Oh, Potions, he just told us to read a chapter in our textbook. Slughorn is the laziest teacher ever! I mean, what's he doing right now? Writing stupid Slug Club invites when he should be teaching us!" James complained.

"Who cares? I mean we basically get a free period to talk and stuff. _He's _obviously not paying attention," Sirius said. Then he looked over and saw Remus pull out his Potions book.

"Do you know what chapter we were supposed to read?" He looked up innocently.

"Remus! What the heck do you think you're doing! Sirius yelled indignantly.

"I'm reading the chapter like we were supposed to," Remus said oblivious to Sirius's anger.

"Are you serious?"

"No mate, that's you," Remus said all smart-like.

"Oh hahaha, very funny," Sirius said sarcastically. Just then the bell rang signaling the end of class. They all hopped up ready to run out the door but then they heard Professor Slughorn's voice behind them.

"Black, Potter, could I see you a minute." Remus and Peter shrugged and as they were leaving James called over his shoulder, "See you in DADA!"

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, I would like to invite you to my Slug Club party tonight. It is only for the best of the best and it is a great honor to be invited to it. Now, shall I expect to see you tonight?"

"No," Sirius said offering no explanation. He knew that the only reason he and James were being invited was because of their families.

"No, well why not?" Slughorn asked his brow furrowed.

"We have detention, sir, in the Forbidden Forest," James said before Sirius could say something that would land him in another detention.

"Oh yes, I quite forgot. You and two of your other little friends were responsible for that fiasco with the common rooms. Yes, that gave me quite a laugh. Well, I expect to see you at the next one then. Now off you go, boys, you don't want to be late for next period." James and Sirius left with only a nod of their heads but once they got into the corridor Sirius burst out.

"Did you see his face when he said we couldn't go! Ha! That was hilarious. He looked like a two-year old who just got his ice cream taken away! I hate him," Sirius finished bluntly.

"Yeah, he's really fake. He's a terrible teacher and the only reason he invited us to his stupid _Slug Club_ is so when we get older and we're famous or whatever he can mooch off of us! My dad says he gets tickets to every Quidditch Match because he had good contacts with an ex-student!" James said indignantly.

"When I get older and I'm big and famous there is no way he's getting anything out of me!" Sirius said defiantly. James nodded his head in agreement then he opened to door to the DADA classroom and stepped inside.

Later that day Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James made their way down the steep slope towards the Forbidden Forest. Professor McGonagall was in front of them explaining the details of their detention.

"You four are going to go into the forest with Hagrid, our groundskeeper. We are running low on some ingredients for the Potion stores and we can't order them because we need them by tomorrow. So you are going to go into the forest with Hagrid and look for these things. Hagrid has the list and the containers you are to put them in. Don't touch any strange looking plants unless Hagrid says it's okay. They might be poisonous. Don't consume anything. Don't stray off the path unless you're with Hagrid. Don't do anything without Hagrid's permission. Don't be too loud or you might get heard by some dangerous animal. Listen to Hagrid and do what he tells you. I'll be back at midnight to get you. You will be doing this all week." McGonagall lectured. Then she left them with Hagrid and made her way back up to the castle.

"Don't do this, don't do that, follow instructions, be good little boys, blah blah blah… Yeah I've heard it all before. What a bore." Sirius griped as they knocked on the wooden door at Hagrid's hut.

"Hello boys, I'm Hagrid. Tonight we're going into the forest but McGonagall probably already told you that. Anyway, here, what's your name? James, well James here you can hold the list. This is all the stuff that we need and there are little pictures of them right next to the name. If you see one them tell me first before you pick it. Here each of you carry one of these containers. This is for your stuff that you pick. OK, all ready, let's go."

They headed off into the forest examining the list. Hagrid told them to start looking as soon as they got in the Forest because the stuff was all over the place. After a couple of hours they had a good batch of ingredients so Sirius asked Hagrid if they could go back yet. Hagrid looked at his pocket watch and jumped.

"Oh, gosh, thanks Sirius, its 11:30! We better be getting back 'cause it'll take us a while to."

After a little while they finally got back to Hagrid's hut. McGonagall was already waiting for them.

"Sorry Professor, I lost track of time." McGonagall nodded and told the boys to come along. They said goodnight to Hagrid and happily made their way back to the castle. McGonagall left them by the main staircase and told them to go to the Gryffindor tower.

"I can't believe there making us do that boring work for the next week!" James complained.

"Yeah, it was scary," Peter said quietly.

Hey, who wants to go exploring? I mean it's not like we have to sneak out or anything because we're already out! I mean we are heading back to Gryffindor Tower we can just make a detour," Sirius said eagerly.

"No," Remus said immediately.

"Is Wemus scared he's gonna get into twouble? Sirius mocked.

"N-no, it's just that I'm tired," Remus lied.

"Sure you are," Sirius said but didn't press the matter because truthfully, he was tired too. They boys made their way back to Gryffindor Tower without any detours, got into bed, and fell asleep immediately. It had been a long night but little did they know that it wasn't over.

**A/N: Well, there it is! I don't very much like it but I totally forgot about Remus being a werewolf and had to incorporate it somehow. I don't know when the full moon actually was in whatever year there in so I just made one up. These chapters are pretty long so in the future I will probably make them a little bit shorter. Also, once school comes back I will not be updating as quickly so yeah. Please review! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Peter, Peter, get up!" came Professor McGonagall's urgent voice.

"Huh, wha-what's the matter? Did something happen?" Peter asked sleepily.

"Come to Professor Dumbledore's office and he will explain everything. It's about your sister."

Peter immediately woke up, "What about her? Did something happen?" he said worriedly.

"Come to the Headmaster's office and we will explain everything." Peter bolted out of bed and in his haste to find out what happened he tripped over his bedpost and went crashing to the ground. This woke the other three boys and they asked what happened too. McGonagall sighed and told them that something was the matter with one of Peter's family members and to go back to bed. The boys all had a hunch about who it was as they knew about his sister's dragon pox. They demanded to come with Peter to the Headmaster's office and McGonagall really had no choice but to let them come. They had to hurry.

When they burst into Dumbledore's office he looked surprised to see that James, Sirius, and Remus were there as well. He didn't comment however as he said, "Peter, as you probably know you have been awaken in the wee hours of the morning about your sister. Her dragon pox has rendered her into a life threatening situation and the Healers at St. Mungo's are trying their best to keep her stable. We have awoken you because according to your parents she really wants you there. If you want to go St. Mungo's we will Floo you there immediately."

Peter didn't even have to think about the answer as he said, "Yes, I want to go now."

Dumbledore nodded and handed Peter the powder for the fireplace. The other three boys told Peter that they hoped she got better and that they would see him tomorrow. Peter merely nodded, threw the powder into the fireplace, stepped in, and yelled St. Mungo's.

The next morning the boys got to breakfast late because they were so tired. Peter hadn't come back during the night and they really hadn't expected him too. They weren't laughing or joking around as they usually were they just sat down in silence. None of them really knew what to say so they didn't say anything at all. They went to classes as usual and during lunch they rushed up to Gryffindor Tower to check if Peter was there. He wasn't so they back to class. After classes they again went up to Gryffindor Tower to see if he was there. They didn't find him however they did find an owl pecking at the window. They opened it up and let the owl in.

"Hey, this is addressed to us! See here it says Remus, James, and Sirius. This must be from Peter!" James said as he read the back of the envelope. He quickly tore it open and read it aloud.

_Dear Remus, James, and Sirius,_

_It's Peter. I won't be coming back to school for a while. My sister's condition got very serious and my family needs me. I don't know what will happen to my sister. I don't know exactly when I'll be back either._

_Peter_

James finished reading and looked at the others. They both had very worried expressions on their faces. It was Remus who broke the silence.

"What do you think happened?"

"Well, it was obviously something serious," James said.

"Do you think she's gonna die?" Sirius asked seriously. (No pun intended)

"No. Almost nobody that young dies from dragon pox but do you think we should visit him?" Remus asked uncertainly.

"No," said James, "we've only known Peter for a couple months and we don't know his family at all." Both Sirius and Remus agreed so they stayed at Hogwarts while Peter was away and became closer friends. Without Peter. They always thought of Peter but it was hard to include someone who wasn't there. They laughed and joked and teased and pranked and all that grew into a very strong friendship and pretty soon they were as close as brothers. Without Peter.

One night while they were all sitting by the common room fire, talking, an owl started pecking on the window. It was the same brown owl that had been pecking on the window over a month ago. Someone sitting at a table by the window opened it up and let the owl in. He read the names on the back and looked around the common room for the boys called Remus, Sirius, and James. He saw them sitting in the big, plush chairs by the fire. He went over there and handed the letter to a boy with jet black hair and glasses.

"Here this just came for you three," the boy said.

"Thanks mate," James replied and then to the other two said, "I think it's from Peter!"

"Really? Well, open it up then!" Remus said enthusiastically. James obliged and read:

_Dear James, Sirius, and Remus,_

_My sister didn't make it. I'll be coming back to Hogwarts in about a week. I'll see you then._

_Peter_

There was no mistaking now that the blots of water covering the parchment were now tears. The three boys looked at each other in shock. Their faces were pale and they were speechless. They hadn't expected that to happen. Almost nobody dies from dragon pox and the people who do are usually elderly people who can't take it. But this was totally unexpected. How did a ten year old girl die from dragon pox? After a couple minutes James said grimly, "Well, I guess we should write him back."

"Yeah," Remus and Sirius said in the same grim tone that James had used. James pulled the parchment toward him and reached into his bag by his feet and pulled out a quill.

"What do we say?" he asked uncertainly.

"Just tell him that we can't wait to see him and that we are very sorry for his loss and ask if there is anything we can do. Don't mention anything that we have done at Hogwarts or it will make him jealous," Remus said as uncertainly as James. So that is exactly what James did.

_Dear Peter,_

_We, that is to say Remus, Sirius, and I, are very sorry at what happened. Is there anything that we can do? We have really missed you this past month or so and can't wait to see you. _

_Your friends,_

_James, Sirius, and Remus_

"I don't like it. It kind of sounds insensitive if you know what I mean," Sirius said looking down at the parchment.

"Yeah, I agree with Sirius, I think we should make it a little more," James paused trying to find the right words, "not that," he finally said. He pulled out a roll of parchment and wrote:

_Dear Peter,_

"Okay, so now what do we say?"

"Try making it heartfelt," Remus suggested.

"But I'm not good at making stuff heartfelt," James protested, "why don't you write it?" Remus took the parchment and quill from James and thought about what he should say. He finally started writing and the end product was this:

_Dear Peter,_

_James, Sirius, and I are very sad to hear what happened to your sister. If there is anything at all that we can do don't hesitate to ask. Once you get back to Hogwarts we'll do a bunch of fun stuff like pulling pranks and we can even go explore the castle! We have missed you a lot and we can't wait to see you. It's been dull here without you. It's not the same. We haven't really done that much here because our partner in crime isn't with us. But once you get back it'll be the same again. Anyway, we'll see you soon!_

_Your friends,_

_James, Sirius, and Remus_

"That's not really heartfelt but it's better than what we had before so I'll take it." Sirius said.

"It's also complete lies. No offense to Peter or anything but things haven't really changed and it's not been dull." James stated rather skeptically.

"Yeah, but we don't want Peter to know these things do we?" Remus said, "We have to act as if nothing's happened or else we'll hurt his feelings."

When Peter came back he was still very sad about his sister's early death. He hardly ate anything and he would always go to bed early. His grades slipped from just passing to miserably failing. His friends would worry about him and try to cheer him up but nothing seemed to help. Remus got sick again and that seemed to help Peter a little bit over concern for his friend but after he got well again Peter slipped back into his state of subconscious.

One Saturday morning found James jumping on Sirius's bed yelling, "Wake up sleepy head! It's the first game of the season! Come on! Get up! We have to get out early to get good seats!" He was ecstatic. He loved Quidditch and one of the reasons he wanted to go to Hogwarts so badly was because of Quidditch. His only regret was that first years couldn't play.

Sirius gave a muffled groan and sat up, "What time is it?" he said groggily. He looked at his watch and shouted, "Its six o'clock in the morning! Why the heck are you waking me up at six in the morning! The match doesn't start till eleven you idiot!" then he promptly fell back onto his bed and started snoring. His outburst and James' yelling woke the other two boys who were watching in amusement.

"I guess we now know to never wake up Sirius early." Remus said as he smiled. James who was still recovering from having his ears almost blown off by his best friend nodded in agreement. Even Peter cracked a smile.

At about nine thirty Sirius finally came trudging down the stairs to the common room. He looked around and found Remus, Peter, and James sitting at one of the tables waiting for him. As he approached the table Remus looked and said, "Well look who's finally awaken! It's Sirius! I never thought he would wake up at such an ungodly hour. I mean its past nine thirty! Who would have thought!" he said very sarcastically.

"Haha, very funny," Sirius retorted just as sarcastically, "I would have been down here earlier if a certain someone *cough James cough* hadn't woken me up at FREAKING SIX IN THE MORNING!"

James shrugged and said, "For Quidditch, Sirius, I'd wake up at three."

Remus chuckled and Peter actually laughed. It wasn't a big laugh but it was still a laugh.

When the four boys walked out onto the pitch at 10:45 there wasn't a cloud in the sky. There was a slight breeze and the perfect Quidditch conditions. They found some seats high up and close to the action. The game began and the players were off.

"Welcome to the first match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin! Nott has gained possession of the Quaffle and is shooting toward the Gryffindor goal posts. He shoots and he oh, crap, he scores. It's 10-0 Slytherin." As the game went on the Slytherins were ahead by a hundred points. James sighed dejectedly. They were losing. The only way they could win was to catch the snitch. But he doubted that that was even possible.

After another fifteen minutes, in which Slytherin scored again twice, both Seekers went into a dive. Wood, the Gryffindor seeker, and Flint, the Slytherin one, were neck in neck. They stretched out their hands and then as soon as it happened it was over. Both seekers pulled out of the dive with Wood holding up his hand in triumph.

They won! James couldn't believe they won! The four boys ran off the pitch with the rest of the stands and jumped up and down on the field cheering. Peter laughed and cheered with the rest of them and when they were back in the common he was grinning from ear to ear. He didn't like Quidditch as much as James but he still liked it. He finally felt like some of the pain from his sister's death was going away. He knew that it would never completely go away but maybe he could make it through this.

**A/N: Hey guys I hoped you like it! I'm not going to update as fast as I did for the first three chapters because a chapter a day is just not possible. I will update probably every week so you can expect the next chapter a week from today, possibly sooner. Also, I would really appreciate it if you would review. I know that quite a few people are following my story but so far I've only gotten one review. Seriously? So yeah, I would really appreciate it if you reviewed. **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Weeks passed and soon it was almost time for Halloween. The boys were all excited because they had heard from their parents how amazing the Halloween feast was. When Halloween finally came the four boys all made their way down to the feast. Remus was still looking a little bad because he had been sick about two or three days before. James and Sirius were getting a little suspicious because they had noticed that Remus was always getting sick. They were worried about their friend but he told them that this happened all the time and it was nothing. They stopped talking about it but exchanged worried glances every so often. Peter didn't notice a thing, as usual.

As they made their way into the Great Hall the boys gasped. Pumpkins floated along with the candles and massive Jack o' lanterns in the corners of the hall. Everything seemed to emit an orange-ish glow. So many ghosts were in the room, a lot more than were usual. The plates were heaped with food of every kind and there was probably more to eat then there was at the start of term feast. The boys quickly sat down and loaded up their plates. For a while nobody said anything for they were all stuffing their faces with food. Finally Sirius said, "Wow, this is amazing. I wonder what's for dessert."

"I'm stuffed; I don't think I can eat dessert." Remus said.

"What! Exclaimed James, "no dessert! You have to eat dessert! It's the best part!"

When dessert arrived Remus could not help himself. He ate chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, and chocolate, basically chocolate anything. He loved chocolate. After the feast they trudged up to their dorm and fell asleep almost immediately.

It was a good thing tomorrow was Saturday because all four boys missed their alarms and woke up at 11. They hung out in the common room until lunch because breakfast wasn't being served anymore and then after lunch they went to hang out by the lake. They had gotten a few apples from lunch and were now happily throwing them into the mouth of the giant squid. They spent the whole day outside because of that they had a lot of homework to do on Sunday. Except for Remus, he had brought some books and things outside with him and completed the reading assignments and practiced a couple spells. Of course, since he was done early on Sunday the other boys made him help them with their homework. They were all done by 6 in the evening.

"Why don't we go exploring!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Yeah," James agreed. Peter nodded his head and Remus had no choice but to go along. He was very reluctant though and tried to talk them into going back to the common room at 7.

"Come on guys, curfew is in half an hour and we should probably get go. I don't want to be out past curfew."

"Who cares, we won't get caught I promise. Nobody's going to think that first years are going to go exploring." Sirius argued.

"Yeah, just like nobody suspected four first years to pull that prank in September with the changing colors in the common rooms," Remus persisted. They argued like this for a while with James taking Sirius's side and Remus surrendering. They went all the way down to the dungeons, trying to keep track of which way they were turning but it was impossible. It was like a labyrinth. They just got more and more lost until it was 10 o'clock and Remus was starting to get very worried. He figured that it wouldn't be long until they ran into a teacher.

They walked around trying to find their way back when they heard the sound of footsteps coming from the end of the hall. As the shadow on the wall grew bigger they got more and more panicky. They ran as fast as they could down the corridor but then Peter tripped on the hem of his cloak and ran sideways into the wall. The other turned around to help him but all they saw was a pair of feet seemingly sticking out of the wall. They hurried over as fast as they could and found that Peter had fell into a portrait and the portrait had fell open revealing a set of stair cases.

"Get in!" Peter said in an urgent whisper. The three boys clambered in after Peter and the portrait swung shut just as the teacher turned the corner. They held their breath as the teacher past and only after they couldn't hear footsteps anymore did they climb out.

"Wait, why don't we just go up the stairs in there?" Remus suggested.

"We don't know where it goes," Peter said.

"We don't know where we are. I think if we can go up away from the dungeons it will be way easier to get back to the common room," James said agreeing with Remus. Peter just shrugged and pushed the portrait open again. Sirius went up the stairs first with Peter behind him and James last. The stairs curved around so they couldn't see what was at the top. They finally reached a landing but it was so dark it was hard to see what was in front of them. James pulled out his wand and muttered, 'Lumos'. The others did too and they could see another portrait in front of them. They tried to push it open but no matter how hard they tried it wouldn't budge.

"What was that spell again? The one that unlocks doors?" Sirius asked. The boys were desperately trying to remember the spell.

"Was it Wingardium Leviosa?" Peter asked.

"Na, that's the levitating spell." Remus said shaking his head. After a couple more minutes standing in front of the portrait Remus finally exclaimed, "Alohomora! That's the spell! It's the standard book of spells! I was reading it a couple of days ago!"

"You were reading a textbook? Who reads textbooks if it's not for homework? I hardly read them even for homework!" Sirius cried. They pushed on the portrait again and this time it opened. The boys fell out into a heap on the floor. They got up, brushed their robes off and looked around.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" James wondered.

"Yeah, cause there's the Charms classroom!" Peter said excitedly.

"I think we just found our first shortcut!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, well, let's just go back to the dorm before we get caught." Remus said tiredly. When they got back to the common room there were still a few people up. It was about 11 and some older students were still doing homework. When a couple of first years came in through the portrait hole the other students looked up.

"What are you doing out at this time of night?" said a prefect. The boys, not expecting anybody to be up, froze.

"Well?" said the prefect waiting for an answer.

"Umm, we were- umm, we were just," James said panicking. If anybody found out about them going exploring, much less, a prefect they were dead meat.

"Detention, we were doing detention," Remus said unsurely.

"With whom?" the prefect demanded his eyes narrowing.

"Um, Slughorn," Sirius said.

"Really," said the prefect, "then why when I went to ask _Professor_ Slughorn a question earlier this evening I did not see you there?" he finished triumphantly.

"Um, because, he assigned us the trophy room. He made us polish all the awards and things in there." James said.

The prefect still looked a little suspicious but stopped pestering them nonetheless. They went up to their dorm and Sirius said, "That was close. Thanks mates." He patted James and Remus on the back. It did not go unnoticed by Peter that Sirius did not congratulate him. He told himself that he was being stupid. He didn't really say anything after all, but he still had a jealous nagging in the back of his mind as he went to bed that night.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**A/N: So here it is, Chapter 6. I know I said I wouldn't go past a week but I was waiting for more reviews. No such luck however, so I decided just to go ahead and write it. Reviews do make me update faster so please review. It would be much appreciated. **

As fall turned into winter the weather got colder and more and more people were staying inside their warm common rooms. This meant that Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James were outside the common rooms more often than not. They never got good seats by the fireplace and people tended not to notice a bunch of 1st years so they were very easily pushed around and bumped into.

One day as they were roaming the hallways Sirius suddenly said, "We should make a map!"

"Of what?" Remus asked.

"Of Hogwarts, of course!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly.

"Hogwarts is unplottable, dummy," Remus said, "that means that it can't be put on a map," he added at Peter's confused face.

"You can't put Hogwarts on a map but nobody ever said that you can't draw a map of what's on the inside of Hogwarts," Sirius said.

"That's a brilliant idea, mate!" James exclaimed, "Let's go get some parchment and a quill and we can start!" and with that he sprinted up the corridor with the rest of them at his heels.

They reached the Gryffindor common and sprinted up the stair case to the boys' dormitory. James quickly pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. "So who's the best drawer?" He looked around. Remus and Peter were looking at Sirius who was jumping up and down with his hand held high in the air chanting 'Me, me, me, me!' Sirius was known for his drawing skills that he so often had shown off in class when they were supposed to be paying attention but in reality they were playing hangman. James gave him the parchment and quill and rid the table of all the junk that had piled up there (dirty clothes, empty chocolate frog containers, scraps of parchment, broken quills, old Every Flavor beans, etc.)

"Okay, what should we name the map?" James asked.

"How about the Cool People Map?" Sirius said.

"How about not," Remus said back.

"The Prankster's Map!" James exclaimed.

"No, too not cool," Sirius said.

"What about a Map of Hogwarts," Peter suggested. The other boys exchanged looks and Sirius said, "Pete! That's like way too boring."

"Yeah, we need something cool, not A Map of Hogwarts, that's lame." James said. Remus merely nodded along with James and Sirius. He didn't want to hurt Peter's feelings. Peter, however, was offended. "It was just an idea," he mumbled although nobody heard him they were too busy discussing a different names for their map.

Remus was growing tired of arguing about the map so he finally just said, "Why don't we find a name for the map later. Let's actually focus on making the map." The other boys nodded in agreement and Sirius started drawing the Entrance Hall. From there he went on to draw the Great Hall and the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Just put in all the classrooms next. And the dungeons, and the secret passageway that came out by the Charms classroom, and the trophy room, and the library, oh, we should also put the Quidditch pitch and Hagrid's hut." James rambled.

"Okay, okay, give him some time; he's not a robot you know." Remus said.

"A what?" James inquired.

"It's like a machine that can be programmed to do different tasks like make cars or microwaves or televisions or computers you know stuff like that," Remus answered, then at the very confused look on James' face, said, "never mind." James shrugged and turned back to Sirius who was just adding the library to the map.

After about another 15 minutes Sirius dropped his quill and announced that he was done. The others came over to inspect. "You forgot the Whomping Willow." Peter said.

"You didn't tell me to put the Whomping Willow on here!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Well, it was kind of obvious as we are doing all of Hogwarts," Remus pointed out. Sirius sighed indignantly and added on the Whomping Willow. Once he was finished James told him to add the Astronomy Tower and Dumbledore's office. As Sirius was adding them Remus suddenly said, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could get all of the other houses on the map?"

"Yeah, we could just go ask the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws."

"What about Slytherin? They won't show us where it is for a million galleons." Peter asked.

"Let's just follow one of them down there."

"Okay, I'll get Ravenclaw, Remus and Peter you get Hufflepuff, and Sirius can get Slytherin," James said taking charge. The four of them headed out toward the Great Hall to see if they could find someone to tell them where the common rooms were. Lunch was just starting so people should be down there. Sirius went with them but when they reached the Great Hall he went to the Gryffindor Table and sat down keeping a close eye on the Slytherin Table. He watched Peter and Remus leave the Hall with a Hufflepuff and James not far behind with a Ravenclaw.

Twenty minutes later Sirius heard a very familiar voice by the Slytherin table saying, "I have to get my bag from the Common Room, I'll see you in class." He looked up. Of course, the first Slytherin to get up had to be his cousin, Bellatrix. 'Great,' Sirius thought to himself, 'just my luck.' He sighed and followed Bellatrix out the Great Hall at a distance.

He followed her all the way down to the dungeons staying in the shadows and peering around the corners. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she stopped in front of a blank wall and said something that Sirius couldn't hear. The wall moved and created a little space for her to walk through and then closed up again when she was gone. Sirius was planning on heading back to the Gryffindor Tower when the wall opened for a second time and the greasy- haired boy, Snape, walked out of it. He thought this was the perfect set-up for getting Snape back for what he did in class. 'Although,' Sirius thought, 'he didn't really do anything except answer a question.' 'Yeah, but do you remember how he acted better than you and turned his nose up to you?' Sirius's worst instincts were butting in. 'Don't you want to get him back for that? And even if he didn't do anything major it will still be fun to hex him.' Sirius's bad side won and when Snape walked by Sirius had his wand out and he threw a Stinging Jinx at him. Snape yelped in surprise and his hand move to the spot where the spell hit him. He peered around the corner and saw Sirius sprinting down the corridor.

"BLACK!" Snape yelled angrily. Sirius on the other hand didn't even turn around and disappeared around the corridor. Snape ran back to the Slytherin common room and saw Bellatrix descending the stairs from her dormitory.

"Bella!" Snape called out. He needed to get Black back but he needed someone bigger, stronger, and more powerful. Bella was all of those things.

"What do you want, Severus?" Bellatrix asked rudely.

" It's Black, he just hexed then ran down the corridor! I need you to get him back."

"Why can't you do that yourself?" Bellatrix sneered.

"I-I need someone older, and- and more powerf-"

"I tell you what, Snape, since it was a Gryffindor, and more importantly, my _dear_ cousin, I will. Which way did he go?"

"He ran down the corridor then turned right," and with that Bellatrix was out the hole and jogging down the corridor.

James was heading down the main staircase having just come back from the Ravenclaw Tower when he saw Remus and Peter rounding the corner.

"Hey guys! Where was the Hufflepuff Common Room?" Remus looked up and saw James calling out to them.

"It's no fair! Their common rooms are right next to the kitchens!" Peter complained as James met up with them.

"You found the kitchens! No way! Cool!" James exclaimed. He was in the process of telling Remus and Peter where the Ravenclaw Common Room was when they turned the corner. James who was looking at Remus didn't notice anything odd until he saw Remus frozen in his tracks looking at the scene in front of him.

"Sirius!" Remus yelled and James turned his head to find Sirius with his wand out pointed at his cousin and a gash across his face and a blackish-blue bump forming on the top of his head.


End file.
